Thursday, January 27, 2011

Since Christmas, I have been trying to cut back on the amount of sweets I eat. I gained a few pounds at Christmas (always do) and since I have a metabolism as slow as a turtle, I need to cut way back for a while. But me without chocolate makes for one cranky person, so I had to make something. I found this recipe on my Sparkpeople site. I changed it a bit to make it even healthier (i.e. I could eat more) so I was surprised when my kids ate most of the cookies! You can add whatever you want to the batter or leave them plain. Since I still don't have any chocolate chips in the house (check out my willpower!), I couldn't add anything. But next time, I think mini chocolate chips would be a great choice.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

After Christmas, my pantry looks like a train wreck. I have half used bags of this kind of chips and half used of that. When I went to make something sweet the other night for the kids (really, just for the kids), I didn't have enough chips of any kind to make cookies. Since I did have 1 bag of butterscotch chips, I was able to scrounge up a recipe for Butterscotch brownies. I altered the recipe a bit to fit what I had left in the pantry, plus I added a bit of oatmeal just because I was craving some. They were so soft and chewy. Considering they are already gone, I think I'll be making these again!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Well, as much as I would love to be sharing a new recipe with you right now, I haven't had any time to bake. I thought it might slow down a bit after Christmas but for some reason, life has been put on high speed and we are just as busy as before. Plus my mother in law got sick and was in the hospital for a while. She is fine now, but we were so worried. Pittsburgh got itself a bit of a snowstorm this week and we spent most mornings running from radio to the computer trying to see if there was a school delay or if it was cancelled, like yesterday (only a delay today-whew!). But I am determined to bake something next week, even if it kills me so I hope to have a goodie to share with you then. In the meanwhile, I thought I'd steal Anita's Meme and give it a go:

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Right before Christmas I was listening to a local radio station called KDKA, (supposedly the first ever radio station in the U.S but that is up for debate) and they have a program on each weekend called the Kuhn's Cooking Hour. People around the area can call in and share recipes. One woman called with a recipe for fudge she said was so simple it was silly. And it was. I copied it down and added it to my Chrismas cookie baking blitz. I was very surprised at the results. I don't like fudge all that much but this stuff was good! I didn't even add anything to it like she suggested and I still liked it a lot. Now I can make it anytime for a quick treat or to give away as a thank you gift. Fudge in no time. Who can argue with that?

Simple and Easy Chocolate Fudge

3 cups semi sweet or dark chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp. vanilla

(you can also add 2 tablespoons of cream cheese for tartness if you like)

Place chocolate in a glass bowl set over a pan with hot water on medium heat. Add condensed milk. Heat over water, stirring often until chocolate is melted. Take off the heat and add 1 tsp. of vanilla. You can also add anything you like such as chopped nuts, dried fruit, or other candies.

For thick fudge, pour fudge into an 8 inch pan. For thinner fudge, use a 9 inch pan. Cool, covered, in the refrigerator until set. Cut into small pieces. Serve.

'Twill make old women young and fresh,Create new motions of the flesh.And cause them long for you know what,If they but taste of chocolate."-James Wadworth